Effortlessly blending dark humor with unnerving situations, this collection of stories addresses a variety of entertaining scenarios with warmth and subtlety. From a story about a little girl out of her depth in a friendship with an adult neighbor to an armed intruder thwarted by a bee and from a tale about a woman determined to believe in her brother's goodness under the shadow of accusation to a story about a Christmas dinner guest who will eat only peas, these works describe surreal, sometimes menacing situations that are equally original and funny. Views: 9
How does an LA sophisticate like rock star Bryan Spencer woo a small-town African-American girl like Callie Lawson? Bryan has come to a small Alabama town to recover after the death of his best friend. The small town is suffocating him until he meets Callie, triggering a contest between LA sin and Southern Sunday school. Bryan and Callie must overcome racial issues, the treacherous nature of the entertainment industry and the clash between urban sophistication and rural values if they are going to stay together. Views: 9
Styled as a royal biography, this clever and witty debut follows a fictitious princess whose svengali is a mechanic who takes his advice from Bruce Springsteen. Views: 9
To Luca Matthews the dangers of the high mountain peaks are the air upon which he thrives.In the ruthless pursuit of his goals he would sacrifice anything - even another climber's life. His friends and family know and fear it. So when he sights a virgin peak in the Himalayas that exists on no map, no one is surprised when he becomes obsessed with being the first to scale it. Together with his climbing partner, Bill Taylor, they set off into a region of Tibet highly restricted by the Chinese. But a freak accident puts one of their team in mortal danger and it is left to a local Tibetan girl to lead them to Geltang, a monastery that has been hidden from the outside world since the Chinese Cultural Revolution, when most of the monasteries were pillaged and burned. When the Chinese secret police get wind of them, Luca and Bill find themselves embroiled in an age-old struggle, not for their lives but to protect the precious secret that Geltang hides, and the legacy of Tibet itself.Review"Utterly compelling ... a real adventurer's tale packed full of mystery, intrigue and plenty of derring-do. Alex Garland's The Beach injected with far Eastern mysticism and high altitude adventure." -- Ben Fogle "A gripping read by a man who really knows what it is like in the mountains - dangerous!" -- Bear Grylls "Think Da Vinci mystery; add handsome men and butterfly-inducing courage. Brilliant" -- Dolly Jones, vogue.com About the AuthorPatrick Woodhead is a young professional climber, who also runs White Desert, a company which arranges adventure expeditions to the Antarctic. When he is not in Antarctica, he divides his time between South Africa, the birthplace of his wife, and London. Views: 9
Manthropology is the first of its kind. Spanning continents and centuries, it is an in-depth look into the history and science of manliness. From speed and strength, to beauty and sex appeal, to bravado and wit, it examines how man today compares to his masculine ancestors.Peter McAllister set out to rebut the claim that man today is suffering from feminization and emasculation. He planned to use his skills as a paleoanthropologist and journalist to write a book demonstrating unequivocally that man today is a triumph---the result of a hard-fought evolutionary struggle toward greatness.As you will see, he failed. In nearly every category of manliness, modern man turned out to be not just matched, but bested, by his ancestors. Stung, McAllister embarked on a new mission. If his book couldn't be a testament to modern male achievement, he decided, it would be a record of his failures.Manthropology, then,is a globe-spanning tour of the science... Views: 9
Some dreams were never meant to be... Renowned architect, Josh McDaniels, spent ten years avoiding his hometown and the unforgettable memories of his youth. But when a former classmate phones him before Christmas with a proposal he can't refuse, he finds himself back in small-town, Lexington, Missouri, surrounded by holiday festivities and engulfed in memories of a blue-eyed girl. Amanda Masterson knows three things about Josh. She loves him, he loves her, and he'll walk out when those feelings terrify him, as he always does. Ten years ago, he abandoned their dreams. Eight years ago, he returned to break her heart again. Now, he's back once more, and this time, he's jeopardizing not only her heart but her daughter's as well.Can the spirit of Christmas overcome a past riddled with mistakes? Or will fears and doubts destroy the greatest gift of all? Views: 9
Los Angeles Stories is a collection of loosely linked, noir-ish tales that evoke a bygone era in one of America's most iconic cities. In post-World War II Los Angeles, as power was concentrating and fortunes were being made, a do-it-yourself culture of cool cats, outsiders, and oddballs populated the old downtown neighborhoods of Bunker Hill and Chavez Ravine. Ordinary working folks rubbed elbows with petty criminals, grifters, and all sorts of women at foggy end-of-the-line outposts in Venice Beach and Santa Monica.Rich with the essence and character of the times, suffused with the patois of the city's underclass, these are stories about the common people of Los Angeles, "a sunny place for shady people," and the strange things that happen to them. Musicians, gun shop owners, streetwalkers, tailors, door-to-door salesmen, drifters, housewives, dentists, pornographers, new arrivals, and hard-bitten denizens all intersect in cleverly plotted stories that center around some kind of shadowy activity. This quirky love letter to a lost way of life will appeal to fans of hard-boiled fiction and anyone interested in the city itself.Ry Cooder is a world-famous guitarist, singer, and composer known for his slide guitar work, interest in roots music, and more recently for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries, including The Buena Vista Social Club. He has composed soundtracks for more than twenty films, including Paris, Texas. Two recent albums were accompanied by stories Cooder wrote to accompany the music. This is his first published collection of stories.Review"In Los Angeles Stories, his first published collection of stories, Ry Cooder pays homage to the jazz, the blues and the Latin beat of a bygone era. He also honors a cast of boisterous musicians, some murdered, others spared to tell their gritty tales of life and death. A few famous musicians - John Lee Hooker and Charlie Parker among them - make cameo appearances in these pages, but most of the guitar players, drummers and lounge singers are as unknown as the repossession men, waitresses and mechanics they entertain in forgotten bars and derelict nightclubs.Cooder fans will enjoy the upbeat mix of music and murder. Aficionados of noir fiction will love the characters, all of whom have something to hide and all of whom are engaged in illegal activity." — Jonah Raskin, San Francisco Chronicle"Cooder's Los Angeles Stories are noir-infused, glamour-free portraits of working class loners, drifters, bums, musicians (both real and fictional), and numerous other fringe types. Each speaks with his or her own individuated, idiom-riddled (but cliché-free) patois." — Casey Burchby, LA Weekly""There is a feeling in the stories, as in much of his music, that something is being documented; that voices, and personal histories, are being preserved not for posterity, but against annihilation by some overriding and corrupted power." — C.P. Heiser, LA Review of Books"While some of the stories focus on those who end up in LA, Cooder’s focus in this book is mainly about those who have called LA home for most of their lives. The way Cooder describes the neighborhoods in LA -- the homes and the working class -- really paints a picture that doesn’t just give you an idea of what it was like; rather, he brings these images to life, especially if you live in or visit LA today." --Verbicide MagazineAbout the AuthorRy Cooder, an LA native, is a world-famous guitarist, singer, composer, producer and writer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music, and, more recently, for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries including The Buena Vista Social Club. Cooder has composed soundtracks for more than 20 films including Paris, Texas. Two recent albums were accompanied by books of stories written by Cooder to accompany the music. Views: 9
In Jerry Eicher's conclusion to his popular Fields of Home trilogy, readers will be delighted to attend the wedding of Teresa, the young Englisha girl who has come home with Susan Hostetler to learn the ways of the Amish—-and in fact to become Amish herself.But Teresa is not the only young woman to find romance in these pages. Susan, long estranged from Thomas Stoll, the young man she had intended to marry from her childhood, reunites with him....just as another man appears on the scene with designs on her heart. Which man is the one Da Hah has chosen for her?Amidst the happiness, there is also turmoil as Menno Hostetler, Susan's father, must face church discipline for a past sinful transgression he's hidden for many years. At his age, can he endure the humiliation and the path to restitution?With more than 350,000 books sold, Jerry Eicher's many fans eagerly anticipate each new novel that offers readers... Views: 9
'It's not particularly difficult to run a successful bookshop, thought Valerie: a grasp of the rudiments of business, a sensible plan, a little skill in negotiation, a couple of contacts and a large portion of magic.'When businesswoman Valerie takes over the bookshop owned by her aunt – who has vanished without trace – her intention is to bring some order to the chaos, and then sell the business. But she has underestimated the power of the little shop. One day she stumbles upon a mysterious book with an unfinished ending. Valerie thinks it must be a defective copy, but when a customer turns up searching for that very book, her view of the shop – and world – shifts, as she is forced to question what is and isn't possible.A Very Special Year is a declaration of love for literature, for beautiful books, the power and magic of stories as well as proof that the world of the imagination is still alive within us. Views: 9
For over a decade Nefertiti, wife of the heretic king Akhenaten, was the most influential woman in the Bronze Age world; a beautiful queen blessed by the sun-god, adored by her family and worshipped by her people. Her image and her name were celebrated throughout Egypt and her future seemed golden. Suddenly Nefertiti disappeared from the royal family, vanishing so completely that it was as if she had never been. No record survives to detail her death, no monument serves to mourn her passing and to this day her end remains an enigma - her body has never been found. Joyce Tyldesley here provides a detailed discussion of the life and times of Nefertiti, Egypt's sun queen, set against the background of the ephemeral Amarna court. Views: 9
